


The Ghost Bride

by AmethystLabyrinth



Category: Toy Story (Movies)
Genre: 1800's setting, AU, F/M, I gave Jessie a last name and parents, Supernatural Elements, Western, Woody's Round Up AU, ghost story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 10:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19867870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmethystLabyrinth/pseuds/AmethystLabyrinth





	1. Chapter 1

I don't own Toy Story or it's any of it characters I do own any all original characters.  
  
Our story takes place in the late 1800's, long after the American Civil War took place, but if you asked any old timer or any middle-age timer who lied about their age to join the army during that time they'd talk about the war as if it had just happened yesterday.  
But our story isn't about the war—no.  
In a little Western town that was growing bigger day by day according to the town officials who some thought where big for there breeches , including the young Sheriff and a young Cowgirl (our main characters) Now the town's name was Pickaxe, being a mining town when it was founded - copper and lead only—but after a few years the mines seemed to 'dry up' and ranching and farming took over instead. However, there were a few stubborn old timers and a few young dreamers who still mined in the caves hoping to find gold.  
Now I know what you're thinking: you're thinking I'm going to tell you all a ghost story about a ghostly miner – well, I'm not, but if you talked to Stinky Pete, Pickaxe's favorite old Prospector, he'd tell you all about haunted mines and caves and he'd wind up scaring himself so silly that he'd be almost too afraid to go back to his cave alone and would ask Woody (The Sheriff, our leading man) to go back with him and check for ghosts.

Back to our story, Pickaxe had its fair share of houses within the town. One such house was a quaint one story cottage panted yellow with a chicken coop and a vegetable garden in the back. Flowerbeds and rose bushes in the front, a water pump that connected to the kitchen sink, and a lovely chestnut tree. The lovely chestnut tree had one of its many branches sticking straight out making it a perfect branch to hang a swing on.  
Sitting on that swing that hung off the branch of that lovely chestnut tree was the cowgirl I had mentioned before. Her name was Jessalyn, (Jessie or Jess for short) Westerberg. Irish on her Ma's side, Swedish on her Pa's and all American Cowgirl in the middle.  
She owned the cottage – something she was very proud of. After all, being a single young woman who owned her home was rare thing in that time. Her house was only a short walk away from the Sheriff's office which, despite popular belief of some young woman and their matching Mothers, pleased our handsome young Sheriff Woody Pride. He liked the idea of Jessie living close to him; he currently lived at his office. But this ain't no romance story so I'll just say that Woody and Jessie had an understanding even though Woody was uncomfortable with showing public affection unlike Jessie.  
Well, as I was saying, Jessie, sitting on her swing gently rocking back and forth feeling a melancholy restlessness. It was the first day of October and that was a bittersweet month for her.  
As a little girl she loved hearing her Ma tell her about when she was a little girl in Ireland and how she and her family would celebrate Halloween. Jessie loved the story of Stingy Jack, whose soul was not allowed to enter Haven or Hell thanks to living a sinful life and tricking the Devil into promising not to take his soul. He'd wander from place to place with only a lantern to guide him. Her Ma used to carve faces on potatoes and turnips and place candles in them to keep Stingy Jack away.  
Halloween was not an American-born holiday. It's traditions and customs were brought over by immigrants in the 1800's and Jessie was proud that her people took part in bringing it over here. Yes, I know, I know - thank you for the history lessons, now let's get back to the story.  
The town was planning a nice Halloween celebration that included parties with fun party games and a pumpkin carving contest, and Jessie was looking forward to these things. So why was October bittersweet for her? Because it was in October that her dear friend Blanch De La Fontaine seemed to descend into madness before disappearing on her wedding day just hours after getting married, never (so far) to be seen again.  
Jessie sighed not wanting to dwell on her friend's mysterious disappearance, only hoping that she was somehow in a better place and hopefully happy.  
The sound of her little pup Scout's barking broke her out of her thoughts. Jessie looked up to see what Scout was barking at -it was Woody. He was leaning over the gate reaching over and petting Scout. Jessie smiled at the sight before getting up.  
"Hey howdy hey!" She said, cheerfully shaking off her melancholy mood.  
"Hey howdy hey, yourself," He replyed with an easy smile. "You about ready to take Scout on a walk?"  
"Yep, let me just get his leash and collar."  
Woody shook his head as he watched her get Scout ready for his walk. Jessie had sent away for a leash and collar from a catalog when she first had gotten Scout. Woody had thought it was silly, telling Jessie, "Those things are for city dogs in the East."  
"I want to train him to be a nice, well-behaved dog. Besides, he's so little that if I took him for a walk in town without a leash he might get into trouble, like getting stepped on by a horse," Jessie had told him.  
Scout was always walked before dinner. It helped his appetite, and Woody and Jessie's. After, Scout was to be fed Jessie would get to work on fixing her and Woody's dinner with Woody helping or sometimes Woody taking her out to dinner at the towns only restaurant. In truth, he did prefer Jessie's home cooking, but before any of that was to happen they went on Scout's walk.  
Woody often joined Jessie to walk Scout; he liked to get out of his office to observe the town more often than not and when it came to Jessie, Woody was somewhat of a Mother Hen though he did hide it well - but anything could happen to her if she went off alone, trouble seemed to have a way of finding her. Especially with the days getting darker earlier.  
They walked through town with Scout having to stop and sniff everything, nodding and saying hello to people. Jessie took Woody's hand in her free one causing him to blush and say, "Not in front of anyone, Jess!" Their walk was uneventful until they reached the marble orchard, also known as the graveyard. Sitting by the marble orchard gate was the most sorry looking black cat Jessie had ever seen; it was very thin mangy looking.

 _'Poor thing,'_ Jessie thought, her heart going out for it. Scout's thoughts were not the same though. Seeing the cat he rushed out of his collar and charged at the cat. The black cat yowled, hissed and ran from him causing the little pup to chase after it into graveyard.  
"Scout, no!" Jessie yelled running after him. She was not going to have a dog that attacked cats.  
Both Woody and Jessie took off after them. Chasing the dog and cat through the graveyard was a difficult task they had navigate the heads stones trying not to trip over them and trying not crash into each other as they tried to head off the animals. It was almost funny almost…Woody tripped over a fresh mound of dirt falling into a freshly dug open grave.


	2. Chapter 2

Woody lay motionless for a few seconds, the wind knocked out of him. The ground smelled musty and felt slightly damp. Woody groaned and rolled over on to his back. He let out a small cry when he realized where he was; he could see earthworms on either side of him crawling though the dirt. It was just like the nightmares he had sometimes, the ones where he'd be laying in an open grave like this, staring at his friends and family crying over him. He would try to scream that he was alive, but his mouth wouldn't work and then they'd start to bury him!  
  
"Woody! Hurry! They ran through the fence!" Jessie called. Woody shook his head and quickly scrambled out of the grave in time to see Jessie jump over the fence and run towards the woods after the animals.  
  
"Gee Woody, are okay after falling into the grave?" Woody mumbled, mocking Jessie's voice. "Did you hurt yourself? Anything I can do? You want me to kiss you and make you feel better? Why, thank you for asking Jess—I'm fine, just got the wind knocked out of me. And as for kissing and making me feel better, leave that until later tonight," Woody said to himself jumping over the fence after Jessie.  
  
Deeper and deeper into the woods Jessie ran. Jessie had never much liked the woods preferring the open prairie instead. There was something about the woods that frightened her somewhat—ever since she was a little girl she'd always imagined that the woods would just swallow her up. She had imagined the woods being haunted by ghost and witches.  
  
Woody had loved playing in the woods as a child; he knew every rock and tree that was in the woods by his parents ranch. Woody wasn't as familiar with woods behind the graveyard, but he knew enough to find his way in and out. He just hoped he'd able to find Jessie.  
  
Jessie panted out of breath as she followed the sound of Scout's barking. Jessie plopped down on the ground when she found Scout and the black cat. The poor black cat was also out of breath and just too weak and tired to run anymore. Scout, still full of energy, jumped around playing nipping at it.  
  
"Bad Scout!" Jessie scolded, picking him up. "Bad!"  
  
"Jessie!" Woody called from the distance.  
  
"Over here!" Jessie called.  
  
In a few short minutes Woody arrived out of breath and panting too. He sat down on the ground next to Jessie.  
  
"And I thought chasing outlaws was tough!" Woody said after catching his breath.  
  
"Here, hold Scout," Jessie instructed handing the little pup to him. "Poor kitty cat," Jessie said picking the black cat and cradling it in her arms. "Don't worry, I'll take real good care of you." The cat softly purred in response.  
  
 _'Fine thing!'_ Woody thought somewhat crossly. _'I almost brake my neck trying to help catch those two and all she can do fuss over that mangy cat! How about a 'Thank you Woody'? No, just ignore me Jess and fuss over the cat,'_  
  
"Well," Jessie said. "If that didn't work up an appetite, nothing will!"  
  
"Yeah," Woody said mumbled. "What are we having anyway?"  
  
"Chicken pot-pie, mashed potatoes, cornbread…"  
  
"Cornbread?" Woody said perking up. Woody enjoyed many varieties of food, but cornbread was a favorite of his.  
  
"Yep and chocolate cake for dessert!" Jessie said cheerfully. "And after dinner, I'll give you a reward for helping catch these two."  
  
"Jessie, not in front of the animals."  
  
"You know, I can't wait till we're married," Jessie said in dreamy voice. "You won't have any excuses then."  
  
"How about not in front of the children?" Woody answered playfully.  
  
Their light playful flirtatious banter was interrupted by a sudden chill in the air as the wind picked up. It was the kind of chill that makes the hair on your neck stand on end and gives you goose flesh. In an instant they both suddenly felt so very frightened. Woody quickly picked Scout back up and moved his hand towards his holster, resting it on the handle of his gun. His law-man's sixth sense was telling him that something or someone was out there watching them. He didn't like this feeling and he wanted to get himself and Jessie out of woods as fast as possible, but he knew better then to turn his back on an unseen enemy.  
  
Jessie for her part suddenly noticed how dark it seemed to get; the tall trees let in very little light from the moon and stars. The woods seemed so threatening so suddenly, she felt the trees had closed around them and there was no way out.  
  
And then there was that feeling of being watched. Jessie hated it. She wanted to leave, but she too knew it was dangerous to run from something unseen.  
  
The leaves rustled softly. It was coming closer and as it did so, the air became ever more colder, causing them both to shiver. A fog began to surround them. Woody and Jessie looked at one another in bewilderment—this had never happened before. The black cat hissed suddenly. Woody and Jessie looked in the direction of where the cat hissed and then they saw it.  
  
At first it started as a bright white mist standing out in the grey fog with no real shape or form and then slowly it started to take shape. At first it started to look vaguely like a human being and then little by little this human shape began to the form a woman in a white wedding gown, a long veil covering her face.  
  
Woody and Jessie made no sound as they watched the apparition appear before them. They just stood there motionless not even changing their facial expressions. It wasn't until the ghost bride lifted up her arm, showing her hand to be made of bone, that any sort of sense came back to them. It cast along, a creeping shadow, almost reaching them. She lifted up her veil. Jessie gasped in horror and Woody made an audible noise. The apparition, this ghost bride, had no face! Seconds and hours collided in that moment as Woody and Jessie stood there filled with childlike excitement and adult terror. The woods were completely still. No sound was heard excepted for sound of their own hearts beating wildly.  
  
A horrible bone chilling gargling noise emitted from the ghost, and she sounded as if she was trying to gasp for air and scream at the same time. Woody and Jessie felt as if they couldn't breathe as well—it was like she was sucking in all the air around as she tried to breathe.  
  
It was horrible trying to breathe and not take in any air in your lungs. Just as they both felt their lungs about ready to explode the ghost vanished and they could breathe again. The fog departed; the woods became alive again. After just standing there trying to get their wits about them, Woody discovered that he had broken out into a cold sweat and that Jessie was trembling slightly.  
  
Woody inched his way towards Jessie, not wanting to make any sudden movements. He carefully placed his hand on the small of Jessie's back, causing her to jump slightly, but after a minute she realized it was Woody  
  
.  
  
They walked back to town slowly in silence, Woody's hand still on the small of Jessie back. Once back at Jessie's house, Scout ran to his basket and hid under his blanket. Jessie placed an old towel in an old hatbox and put the cat in there, who curled up and went to sleep.  
  
Jessie let a sigh and turned to Woody.  
  
"What happened to you?!" She asked in surprise seeing his appearance.  
  
Woody caught a glimpse of himself in the parlor mirror. He was covered in dirt. Had it not been for their fighting encounter in the woods, he would have answered her back somewhat nastily still feeling neglected up to this point. But instead, not wanting to upset Jessie any further, seeing as she was pale and still slightly jumpy.  
  
"I tripped and fell into an open grave," He told her trying to sound sheepish.  
  
"Who's grave?" Jessie asked, her eyes wide.  
  
"I don't know," Woody said, truly pondering it for the first time. "I hadn't heard about anyone who died recently or of someone being sick."  
  
"Oh," Jessie said. "You go wash up and I'll get dinner started."  
  
They had been eating in silence not sure what to say when Jessie suddenly yelled.  
  
"That was a ghost we saw! Woody, I know what you're going to say, that I have a wild imagination and had one even when we were children, that I'd get so involved with our make believe games that when they were over I'd end up thinking that all those make up outlaws and monsters were still out to get us. But Woody, that was real! What we saw was a ghost and nothing that you can say can convince me otherwise!"  
  
"I'm not going to," Woody simply said.  
  
When walking back to Jessie's house, Woody had racked his brain trying to think of some logical reason to explain what he and Jessie saw. He ran through every animal he knew; only a bear came the closest to mind. But not even a bear could do that...  
  
He thought aboutall the Native American customs and rituals he knew of and nothing came close either. He thought of magical and theatrical tricks he knew and had seen and again nothing came to mind, so Woody had to admit that they'd seen a ghost.  
  
Jessie looked surprise at first and almost a little dismayed as if she had hoped Woody would tell her it wasn't a ghost at all.  
  
"I wonder whose ghost it was?"  
  
Woody shrugged.  
  
"You reckon it might have been Blanche's ghost?" Jessie asked in small voice.  
  
"It might be," Woody told her. "That's just if Blanche is dead, though. Just because we never found her doesn't mean she is dead."  
  
"It's just the wedding dress the ghost wore... It looked just like Blanche's and I should know - I helped make that dress," Jessie ruminated, clearing away the table. "She always called her wedding dress her death shroud."  
  
"If it is Blanche, why would she appear to us now?" Woody asked, helping clear the table.  
  
"Maybe she wants to be found," Jessie said as they began to wash the dishes.  
  
"Well, if you get any ideas about going into the woods to find her, you just make sure I'm with you. Last thing I need is to form a search party because you got up and got yourself lost. And another thing, Sheriff Hale, I, and rest of the men in this town searched the woods high and low and we couldn't find her."  
  
"Don't treat me like a child, Woody," Jessie said coolly. "I'm not fool enough to just go wandering into woods with no idea how to find my way back."  
  
"Jess…"  
  
"You always do this. You always think that I'm just a weak and helpless female who needs you to save her at every turn! I'm not the one who needed help! I'm not the one who needed someone to save her!"  
  
"Jessie," Woody said gently holding her. "I know you miss your friend. What the children, the town and Aaron Colby did and forced her into was wrong and I wish Sheriff Hale and I could have done something to stop it, you know that."  
  
"I know," Jessie said softly hugging him back. "I'm sorry I got mad at you. I still wish you wouldn't treat me like a child."  
  
"I don't treat you like a child," Woody said resting his head on top of hers. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."  
  
"Were you scared? Jessie asked. "When we saw the ghost?"  
  
"Maybe just a little," Woody said trying to sound offhanded.  
  
"Are you lying to me so I won't think you're yellow?" Jessie asked looking up at him; a ghost of a smile was on her face.  
  
"Maybe just a little," He said with a sly grin. "What about you?"  
  
"Maybe just a little," Jessie said, smiling more. "So what are we going to do?"  
  
"First of all, I don't think we ought to go telling people what we saw. You know, the people in this town tend to panic over things that can't be explained."  
  
"I know," Jessie said. " I still remember when that old rooster got lost in the Prospector's mine and started crowing up a storm making him think hiss mine was haunted by a witch."  
  
"He got everyone so worked up over it that whole town came running out to his mine with pitchforks and lit torches ready to run the witch out and burn her at the stake," Woody continued.  
  
"Oh, I'll never forget the look on everyone's face when your Pa came walking out holding that old rooster," Jessie said laughing.  
  
"But the best part was when Old Ma Coolen came in over to my Pa and said 'Jasper, there you are! I was wondering where you'd gone to. Afraid the foxes got to you. Come on, let's go home now. Your wives have been missing you.'" Woody finished, laughing too. "Tomorrow in the daytime you and I will go investigate the woods."  
  
A little while later Woody left Jessie's house and made his rounds. It was quite a peaceful night, something Woody was grateful for. Before retiring to bed, Woody went to visit the stable and checked on his horse Bullseye.  
  
...  
  
She walked without a sound, almost in a dreamlike trance to someone seeing her. She reached Jessie's house first, walking straight through the fence as if it was thin air. She reached Jessie's bedroom window. She stretched out her long, bony hand, it's shadow creeping into Jessie's bedroom and resting on her throat.  
  
Jessie woke up gasping for air. She had felt something cold and clammy clutching her throat. Jessie clutched her own throat, feeling marks left there. She shuddered; she'd be getting no more sleep tonight.  
  
The ghost bride left Jessie's house and made her way into town and to the stables. As soon as she entered all the houses, including Bullseye's stable, he neighed and whinnied in fright, then bucked and reared trying to get out of their stalls.  
  
Old Elli owned and ran the stables, and his house just at the back. He bolted up right in his bed hearing the horse fussing. He grabbed his rifle and a lantern and ran to the stables, entering the back way.  
  
"All right, what's going on here?" He demanded lifting up his lantern to get a better view. He gasped at seeing the ghost bride and she lifted up her veil. Upon seeing that she had no face, his heart gave out slightly and he crumpled to the ground, dropping the lantern and breaking it. Fire began to spread around him!  
  
"Fire! Stables are on fire!" Someone yelled waking Woody up.


	3. Chapter 3

Woody jumped out of his cot, put his boots on and ran outside. Sure enough, the stables were ablaze.  
  
Shop owners and other people who lived in town had also woken up and were now outside.  
  
"All right, people. Let's get a bucket line going, and the rest of you help get the horses out!" Woody ordered.  
  
Jessie, already awake, heard the yelling. She jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, grabbed her coat and ran out the door.  
  
Woody caught sight of Jessie running towards the stables.  
  
"Help get the horses tied to posts!" Woody instructed. Jessie nodded and ran to help with the horses. Woody soaked his bandanna into water before quickly tying it round his face and running back into the stables to free more horses.  
  
With the fire blazing away thick black clouds of smoke filled the stable making it hard to see and breath. Coughing and almost blinded by the smoke, Woody continued to free the horses.  
  
Suddenly he heard a horse scream in pain.  
  
Woody turned and saw that a horse had caught fire on its back. Woody ran to it holding the thick blanket he had been using to beat down the flames around him. As fast as he could he slammed the blanket on the horse's back. The horse, not understanding that Woody's was trying to help her, bucked and reared trying to trample him. Woody was able to smother the flames and free the horse from her stall. She ran out in a terror.  
  
"That horse had been burnt! Someone, try and catch her!" Woody yelled.  
  
Jessie saw the horse go running past. Knowing that it was hurt, she grabbed a rope and hopped on Bullseye.  
  
"Ride like the wind Bullseye! We need to catch her!" Jessie yelled. As they chased the horse, Jessie recognized the horse as a horse called Star. A beautiful Leopard print Appaloosa.  
  
Jessie was familiar with all the horses at Old Elli stable as she worked there part-time. Star had always been a sweet tempered horse, but now being frightened and in pain, Jessie knew she could be a very dangerous animal right now.  
  
…  
  
They had gotten the horses out, and the town was ready to breathe a sigh of relief.  
  
"Where's Old Elli?" Someone asked.  
  
"He's not in his house!" Said another man.  
  
"He must be in the stables!" Woody exclaimed. "I've got to go in there and get him out!"  
  
"But Sheriff, the stables are still on fire and it's getting worse! You don't stand a chance! And Old Eli's most likely dead!" Cried the mayor of the town.  
  
"I have to try!" Woody cried running into the stables once again  
  
.  
  
It was even worse than before and now timbers and support beams were falling around him.  
  
"Elli!" Woody yelled. He choked at the smoke and soot entering his lungs "Can you hear me?!"  
  
The men and women of the town tried their hardest to put out the burning stables, but bucket after bucket of water seemed to have little to no effect on the burning blazes. They could only hope that the fire would burn itself out. There were several men who had wanted to follow Woody to try and save Old Eli, but their wives clung onto them, begging them not to go in there and get themselves killed. Before any of them men could decide what to do, the roof of the stables caved in.  
  
….  
  
Jessie and Bullseye chased after Star as she ran out of town and into the prairie, Jessie had been trying to lasso her, but Star always seemed just out of reach. She was afraid now. Jessie knew that if she didn't catch Star and tend to her burns in time, she'd get infected and then the wolves and elements would get her.  
  
Bullseye and Star's steady hoof beats help to soothe Jessie's nerves some, though she wished her moonlight ride was for fun. She tried not to think and worry about Woody and the towns' people fighting the fire.  
  
Oh, if Woody went and got himself killed by that fire she'd never forgive him! Never!  
  
Jessie pressed her lips together as she twirled her lasso. What a beautiful striking sight she made sitting atop Bullseye, illuminated from behind by the moonlight twirling her lasso.  
  
She got her! Now all she had to do was keep hold of her. Jessie held onto the rope with all her might as Star tried to break free.  
  
"Easy girl!" Jessie grunted as the rope broke into her skin. "Easy, easy!"  
  
Star was whinnying in pain and fright. For all she knew, Jessie could have been the cause of that pain, so she fought with all her might to break free; but Jessie was not about to lose. She was not going back to town empty handed! Soon pain and exhaustion won out over Star and she stopped trying to break free.  
  
"That's a girl," Jessie cooed softly. "Come on now. Let's go home and I'll get you taken good care of."  
  
A wolf howled and then, before Jessie knew it, a pack of wolves homed in, not ten feet away from her.  
  
…  
  
Men took their hats off and women wept. They had lost a good man - two good men. And then in the distance they heard a shout followed by coughing. They could see two figures coming out of the smoke.  
  
It was Woody and Old Eli!  
  
They ran towards them, some people shouting to get the doctor and others yelling to give them air. They helped them away from the blaze and sat them on the ground.  
  
"Is he alive?" Asked Mayor Stone.  
  
"I-I think so," Woody choked, coughing and gasping for air.  
  
The doctor ran over and began examining Old Eli.  
  
"It's his heart. Help me get him up to my office," The Doctor ordered.  
  
"No face!" Old Eli muttered, coming back to consciousness as he was being carried up to the office. "No face!" Woody frowned. This was not good.  
  
….  
  
 _'This is not good,'_ Jessie thought.  
  
"Easy," Jessie said aloud to the two nervous horses. The wolves had heard Star's distressed neighs and could most likely smell her burned flesh. An easy kill for the pack. _'And me with not even anything to defend myself with.'_  
  
 _Jessie's Ma didn't just tell her stories about Halloween - she would tell her about her ancestors in Ireland too. Jessie had been sick with fever one winter when she was eight years old. Miserable and feeling poorly, her parents did what they could to cheer her up. So msitting by her daughter's bedside, Talulla Westerberg had told her daughter the legend that had been passed from mother to daughter or grandmother to granddaughter if no daughter had been produced._  
  
 _"During the Middle Ages in Ireland, a young wood cutter had fallen in love with a beautiful fairy woman with bright red hair and she with him. She begged the queen of the fairies to turn her human so she could marry the man she loved. The queen, seeing how much they loved each other, agreed and consented to match and turned the fairy human and she and the wood cutter were married. Though the fairy was now human, the fairy queen had given her one last gift that not even her husband knew about."_  
  
 _"What was the gift Ma?" Little Jessie asked in scratchy voice._  
  
 _Talulla smiled and placed fresh, cool damp clothes on her daughter's warm forehead before continuing on._  
  
 _"The gift was that animals could understand her in times of great need."_  
  
 _"You mean she could talk to animals?" Little Jessie asked wide-eyed before coughing._  
  
 _"No, not talk. But if she concentrated very hard she could send her thoughts to the animals and they in turn could send their thoughts to her."_  
  
 _"I don't understand Ma," Little Jessie said._  
  
 _"That's all right, you will someday," Talulla told her soothingly._  
  
 _"What you mean Ma?"_  
  
 _"All the woman in my family have this gift."_  
  
 _"Really, Ma?" Little Jessie asked with wonder._  
  
 _Talulla nodded yes. "But," Talulla continued. "You must never tell any menfolk or woman who are not blood kin to you."_  
  
 _"Why?"_  
  
 _"Because then you lose the gift. So that means no telling any other friends about this, especially that little lad with the nose. And another thing: you must never tell anyone if you've used your gift, not even me."_  
  
 _"Why not?" Little Jessie asked, and had another coughing fit._  
  
 _"Because," Talulla said helping her daughter sit and drink some water. "I'd be so proud that I'd start bragging to everyone about my wonderful gifted daughter, and then we'd both end up losing our magical gift from the fairy queen."_  
  
 _"Don't worry Ma, I wont tell anyone," Little Jessie said drifting off to sleep._  
  
 _Talulla smiled tucking the blankets around her daughter._  
  
….  
  
Woody coughed and coughed, gulping in stale, smoky air in-between. His eyes still watered from the smoke, his lungs were still burned as was his throat. He was sitting hunched over on the steps of the doctor's office. He was singed, scorched, and burnt and Woody was pretty sure he had wrenched a few things jumping out of the way of falling timbers.  
  
The doctor would get to him as soon as he calmed down Eli. The townsmen patted Woody on the back and offered to buy him drinks while the townswomen praised him.  
  
"W-water, just water, please," Woody managed to say. He needed a clear head to think.  
  
Old Eli had seen the ghost bride. Had she caused the fire and would anyone else see her? If they did, what else would happen? He wondered what Jessie would think of all this and then he realized something…  
  
"Where's Jessie?" He managed to say.  
  
….  
  
 _The wolf population was becoming a problem for the ranchers and farmers around Pickaxe. Wolves were coming onto their land and killing their livestock. The thing to do they concluded was to hire wolf trappers._  
  
 _Sebastian Westerberg wanted no part in that. He didn't hold to trapping animals and he didn't like the idea of killing an animal just for its skin and letting the rest of it rot. No, Sebastian would deal with the wolves in his own way._  
  
 _Guard dogs, Komondor dogs. They were good livestock guarding dogs; their long corded white coats helped to protect them against predators. They where also brave, athletic and smart dogs._  
  
 _The trappers were a dirty looking pair whose only real aim was to make money, legal or not. Many people of the town didn't like the looks of them. Sebastian had told them they weren't allowed to trap on his land and even though they said they wouldn't they were lying. The thought of the money they'd make off the pelts of the wolves was too great and what Mr. Westerberg didn't know wouldn't hurt them or their profits._  
  
 _Sebastian had to go away for a month and when he came back he would have the dogs with him. He wasn't too keen on leaving Tululla and Jessie by themselves, so he asked the Prides if they could spare Woody till he came back. Even though Woody was only ten years old (Jessie's age) he had responsible head on his shoulders and didn't complain about doing work._  
  
 _Woody was the youngest of five children - all boys. His older brothers often teased and bullied him and his father, seeing Woody's skinny frame and lanky body, had dismissed his youngest son as being weak and not of much use around the ranch, often referring to him as a Mama's boy since he helped his mother around the house._  
  
 _"Someone's got to help Ma with indoor chores," Young Woody said. "Might as well be me."_  
  
" _I don't know whether to be ashamed of you for doing women's work or proud of you for seeing that your Ma needs help and helping her," John Pride would say to his youngest son. Needless to say, it wasn't any surprise that Woody would end up looking for father figures in Sheriff Hale and Stinky Pete. Woody's parents could spare him, but John Pride wasn't too happy about it. He didn't see what good it was having Woody with them and he didn't like Woody spending time with Jessie._  
  
 _"A boy shouldn't have a girl for best friend!" But he agreed to let Woody stay with them while Sebastian was gone._  
  
 _Tululla had sent Woody and Jessie outside to play. They had decided on a game of 'hide and seek'. Woody was it and while he had his back turned Jessie went off to hide._  
  
' _Now where can I hide so Woody won't find me?' Young Jessie wondered. Suddenly, she heard metal snap followed by an animal crying in pain. Young Jessie rushed towards the noise. "Oh!" She cried upon seeing a wolf pup with its leg caught in a metal trap._  
  
 _What was worse was that its mother was next to it trying to free it as well._  
  
 _A wolf may look like a dog, but it doesn't act like one. Wolves are dangerous animals, especially when they are hurt and Jessie knew this, but this was just a little wolf pup and Jessie couldn't just stand there letting it suffer so! But its mother was a different matter. She stood there frozen, knowing that if she made one wrong move the mother wolf might kill her. The mother wolf growled at her._  
  
 _'I just want to help. I don't want to hurt you or your baby,' She found herself saying to mother wolf in her mind._  
  
 _The mother wolf looked at young Jessie for several minutes still growling and then she stopped. Jessie knew that the mother wolf would let her try to help and she also knew that the mother wolf wouldn't think twice about killing her if she thought young Jessie was going to hurt her or her pup. Swallowing hard with her heart in her throat, she walked slowly towards them._  
  
 _'How am I going to open this trap?' She thought desperately. 'The arrow head Woody give me!' She thought, reaching into her pocket. 'Woody said this would bring me luck, I sure hope it works.'_  
  
 _Sitting down, she picked up a small rock and began to work on freeing the pup. It seemed like hours had passed before she finally managed to pry it open and free the wolf pup. The mother picked her pup upwith her teeth and walked away slowly from young Jessie, only stopping briefly to look at young Jessie over her shoulder before disappearing into the bush._  
  
 _Young Jessie still sat on the ground shaking, realizing that what she'd just done had been the dangerous thing she had ever done! What was she thinking?! She could have been killed! And what would everyone say when they found out what she did? Her parents would never let her leave the house again. What was she to do?_  
  
 _Then she remembered what her mother had told her about her gift and how she shouldn't tell anyone about it. She and the mother wolf had understood each other without words - young Jessie was sure she had used her gift. Now she could keep silent and without feeling too bad about it._  
  
 _Young Woody found her a little while later. When he saw the trap he grabbed her hand and a long stick that was on the ground. He carefully lead them back the house using the stick to check for anymore traps. They found quite a few._  
  
 _To make the long flashback less long, this would to lead Woody's career in the law, but that's a story for another day._  
  
….  
  
Jessie sat tensely on Bullseye, holding on tightly to his reigns and the rope that held Star. She locked eyes with the leader of the wolf pack as the memory of saving the wolf pup flashed before her. Jessie suddenly realized that the wolf was one she had saved. Older and battle scarred with only another year of life left. Would the wolf remember her? The old wolf howled once more and then turned around, leading the pack away. Jessie let out the breath she'd been holding.  
  
"Well, I won't say anything about the wolves if you two won't," She said to the two horses. "Come on, let's go home."


	4. Chapter 4

"She what?!" Woody cried, jumping up when he was told that Jessie had gone after the runaway horse. He winced in pain and had another coughing fit. Yep, he had pulled, twisted, dislocated, and broken one or a few more things. "How could you all let her go off into the night by herself?!"  
  
"Well, we had other things to worry about," Mayor Stone said.  
  
"But she's out there all alone! It's dangerous! How long has she been gone?"  
  
The men and woman shrugged their shoulders, not really sure how long Jessie had been gone. Woody was livid.  
  
"You let her go off by herself, and you don't know how long she's been gone! I bet you don't even know which way she went!"  
  
"Well, she took a horse with her if that helps," Said Mr. Radcliff who ran the general store. "I think it was your horse."  
  
"Well, that's just great. At least she has someone dependable with her," Woody said somewhat sarcastically. "Someone lend me a horse. I got to go and find her."  
  
"You're not going anywhere," Said Doc Milburn from behind him. "Not until I've checked you out and fixed you up."  
  
"I'm fine," Woody said ignoring all the pain he was in.  
  
"You have a dislocated shoulder," Doc Milburn said.  
  
"It's just a sprain," Woody said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Sprains don't look like that. Now, get inside so the doctor can take care of you," Said Mrs. Milburn (also known as Nurse Milburn). Woody knew better than to argue with the nurse.  
  
"Fine, but make this quick," Woody grumbled.  
  
"Sit down and let's get your shirt of," Doc. Milburn instructed.  
  
"Not in front of your wife and daughter."  
  
"Oh, it's all right Sheriff Woody—I ain't shy about that stuff," Said eighteen year old Lucy Milburn. "Besides, we went to school together."  
  
"Well, I am shy" Woody said. "Don't forget: you're two years younger then me and Jessie as well. She and I would go to school together."  
  
Lucy scowled, but didn't move.  
  
"Della," Doc Milburn said to his wife. "Go in the back room and stay with Old Eli. Let me know if there's a change."  
  
"Come along, Lucy," Her mother said.  
  
"But, Ma!" She protested as they left the room.  
  
Getting doctored up was almost as bad as getting hurt in Woody's opinion. Getting his shoulder worked on was torture.  
  
"You'll have to wear a sling for at least a week. If not, longer."  
  
"How am I supposed to keep the pace if I'm in a sling?" Woody asked grumpily.  
  
"Hire a deputy!"  
  
Next it was determined that Woody had broken a few ribs. Woody hissed as Doc Milburn taped up his ribs.  
  
"Now I know what a corset feels like," Woody moaned. "No wonder Jessie hates wearing them."  
  
Doc Milburn raised an eyebrow at Woody's comment, but didn't say anything. Once he finished with Woody's ribs, he set to work on soothing Woody's burns. Luckily, they were very slight and superficial.  
  
"Ow, Doc, that hurts," Woody complained as Doc Milburn rubbed ointment on his burns.  
  
Before the doctor could respond there was a knock on his door.  
  
"Doc, you awake?" Came Jessie's voice though the door.  
  
Woody leaped off the table and flung to the door..  
  
"Jessie, are you all right?" Woody demanded.  
  
"I'm in a much better shape than you are apparently," Jessie said, looking him up and down. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Never mind about me," Woody said. "What's wrong? Why do you need the Doc?"  
  
"I want to know if he's got anything for rope burns."  
  
"Rope burns?!" Woody said, alarmed. "Where? Let me see."  
  
Jessie sighed, too tired to argue with him, and showed Woody her hands.  
  
"Those look terrible!" Woody said.  
  
"I'll take over from here, Doctor Pride," Doc Milburn said sarcastically.  
  
"That doesn't look too bad," He said after examining Jessie's hands.  
  
After some arguing about who should get treated first (Woody wanted Jessie to first and Jessie wanted Woody to get finished being treated by the doctor). Dr. Milburn told them he'd finish working on Woody first. Jessie was told about Woody's heroic deed in saving old Eli. Jessie told them that she was able to get Star and that she and Bullseye were being taken care of.  
  
"Doc?" Woody began once he and Jessie were all fixed up. "How do I get my shirt back on and buttoned up?"  
  
"You don't! I want you to leave that sling on for twenty-four hours!"  
  
"What?! I can't go walking around without my shirt on! Everyone's going to see!"  
  
"You don't seem to mind Jessie seeing you without your shirt," Doc Millburn said, hiding a smile.  
  
"Oh well, she-I-we-her-us," Woody stammered, not knowing what to say.  
  
"It's alright, Doc," Jessie began, completely unfazed by seeing Woody shirtless. "I'm the only woman bedsides his mother that's allowed to see him without a shirt."  
  
"And who came up with that?" Doc Milburn asked.  
  
"I did," Jessie said with a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile.  
  
Woody cleared his throat, his face slightly flushed. Jessie giggled and then yawned. She draped Woody's shirt around his shoulders.  
  
"Mind if we pay you later, Doc?" Jessie asked.  
  
"Sure. I know where to find you if you don't," Doc Millburn joked.  
  
"Let me know when I can talk to Eli," Woody said, trying to figure out a way to keep his shirt closed. "I have some questions for him."  
  
"Will do," Doc Milburn said.  
  
It was dawn when they left Doc Milburn office.  
  
"Jessie, you did you good getting that horse back, but..." Woody began.  
  
 _'Here it comes,'_ Jessie thought, forcing herself not to roll her eyes. Jessie ignored Woody's long lecture on how reckless it was for her to go off on her own. Jessie would have argued with him, but she was just too tired to care by the time they reached Jessie's cottage. She yawned as they entered her home and took off her coat.  
  
"Jessie, are listening to me? Woody asked annoyed as he followed her to her bedroom.  
  
"No," Jessie said, flopping down on her bed and promptly falling asleep.  
  
"Jessie! Don't fall asleep when I'm having an argument with you!" Woody whined, but then smiled. _'It's been a rough night for all of us. If anyone deserves a good sleep, Jessie does,'_ Woody thought, yawning. He could do with some sleep himself. Jessie's bed looked very inviting right now, but with his luck Jessie would probably give him one of her famous bear-hugs in her sleep and that was last thing his ribs needed at the moment. Jessie's sofa seemed like the best option. Woody winced as he leaned over and covered Jessie with a blanket, giving her a light kiss on the check.  
  
As soon as Woody lay down on the sofa, Scout jumped on him.  
  
"Boy, am I glad you're still a little pup," Woody said, patting him on head.  
  
Woody's sleep was not a peaceful one; he was plagued with nightmares.  
  
He was in a burning forest.  
  
"Help me!" A voice called out to him.  
  
"Where are you?" Woody called out. "I can't see you!"  
  
"Help me! Why won't you help me!?"  
  
"I don't understand?" Woody yelled, following the voice. "Who are you?" A flash of red hair running through the trees. "Jessie? Jessie, is that you? Don't run away me! I'll help you!"  
  
"You'd do anything for her, wouldn't you?"  
  
"That voice, that's not Jessie's voice, but I know it from somewhere. That accent, I've heard that French accent before. Show yourself, Blanch!"  
  
"How sweet of you remember moi! I have your precious Jessie!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Come and find us if you dare!"  
  
Blanche's evil laughter rang through the burning forest as Woody ran trying to find them.  
  
"If you've hurt her I'll…" Before Woody could finish, he found them. Blanch, in her ghost bride form, was holding Jessie tightly by the arms. Jessie's head was down, as if she were unconscious.  
  
"What did you to her?!" Woody demanded.  
  
"You'd do anything for her: you'd live for her, die for her, lie, cheat, steal. You'd give up everything you know and love for her, and you'd even kill for her," Blanch told him, he voice cold.  
  
"I…" Woody faltered.  
  
"She wouldn't even have to ask you to; you'd do it without a second thought if you thought someone had hurt her. You'd never let what happened to me happen to her! You'd never let her end up looking like this!" Blanch cried, pulling Jessie's head back to reveal that she too now had no face!  
  
Woody screamed.  
  
"Woody, wake up! You're dreaming."  
  
Woody's eyes flew open and he found himself looking into the concerned face of Jessie.  
  
Taken in her face, Woody breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Here, drink this," Jessie said, handing him a hot steaming cup of…  
  
"Hot chocolate?" Woody said after a sip.  
  
"It always makes me feel better after a rough night."  
  
"I usually drink coffee," Woody said taking another sip as Jessie made a face.  
  
"You want to tell me about your dream?" Jessie asked him.  
  
Woody sighed, not wanting to tell her, but feeling compelled to do so. Jessie looked disturbed when Woody finished.  
  
"Woody, there's something I never told you," Jessie began.  
  
"What?" Woody asked, placing his good hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Blanch, " Jessie paused. "Blanch wanted me to get you to kill Mr. Colby. I told her you wouldn't kill him just because I asked you to. Blanch told me to lie to you. She wanted me to tell you that Mr. Colby got real drunk and that I wasn't able to fight him off. I told her no. I told her I wouldn't lie about something like that. And that you may be a hot-head at times, but you're not stupid! I told her that you'd see that I didn't have any marks on me. She a plan for that too: she wanted me to beat myself up. I told her no and she accused me of turning against her like the town did. We had such an awful fright. The last words I said to her were so cruel," Jessie finished mournfully.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Woody asked.  
  
"I don't know," Jessie said hugging herself. "You know how Blanch was when she gave in and agreed to marry Mr. Colby. She just wasn't right in the head anymore. Do you want to have breakfast?" Jessie suddenly asked changing the subject. "I guess it's a bit late for it to be called breakfast..."  
  
"What time is it?" Woody asked.  
  
"It's around two in the afternoon," Jessie answered.  
  
"Well, I don't care what time it is," Woody said. "I'm hungry and if you cook it, I'll eat it."  
  
"Here," Jessie said, handing him something gray and made out of wool.  
  
"What's this?" Woody asked.  
  
"It's a poncho," Jessie told him. "Here, let me help you put it on. There, that should help keep you warm," Jessie told him once he was now wearing the poncho. "Can't have you catching cold. That would be the last thing you'd need with broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder."  
  
"That's true," Woody said. Then his stomach growled. "Can we eat now?"  
  
Sitting down at Jessie's kitchen table, Woody felt eyes staring at the back of his head. He turned around sharply, ready to take on whatever it was only to laugh at himself. It was the cat they had found the day before. It was sitting on the edge of the kitchen sink.  
  
They locked eye for maybe half a minute before the cat raised its front paw and began to lick it.  
  
If Woody had been a more superstitious person he might have blamed the black cat for what had happened so far, but while Woody may believe in ghosts, he did not give credence to silly superstitions. Black cats don't bring any more bad luck then breaking a mirror does.  
  
"Well, someone's made themselves at home," Woody said.  
  
"You mean Midnight?" Jessie asked. placing a plate with his breakfast on it front of him.  
  
"You named the cat already?" Woody asked as Jessie began to cut up his breakfast into pieces for him.  
  
"Yep, I think she likes the name," Jessie said, finishing her task. Woody fought the urge to say 'thank you, little mother'.  
  
"So," Jessie said, sitting down across from him with her own breakfast. "Any idea how the fire started?"  
  
"I think Old Eli started it by accident. He must have heard something, went to check on the horses, had a heart attack and dropped the lantern."  
  
Jessie nodded.  
  
"Jess?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I think he saw the ghost."  
  
"What makes you say that?" Jessie asked.  
  
"He said, 'No Face.' Now, I can't think of any other reason why he'd say that. Can you?"  
  
"No," Jessie answered, wondering if she should tell Woody about the bony hand she'd felt on her throat the night before. "So now what?"  
  
"Well, for one thing, I'm going to have to hire a deputy."  
  
Jessie's eyes lit up upon hearing that.  
  
"No," Woody firmly stated.  
  
"Why not?" Jessie questioned crossing her arms.  
  
"Well, one: You have too much to do," Woody told her.  
  
"What do you mean I have too much to do?"  
  
"With Old Eli laid up at Doc's, you'll have take over on the supervision of rebuilding the livery stable."  
  
"I could do that and still be a deputy," Jessie said stubbornly.  
  
"Two: You also have to nurse me."  
  
"All the more reason I should be a deputy. That way I'll be near you when you need me."  
  
"No," Woody said again.  
  
"Just give me one good reason why not!"  
  
"A Sheriff and deputy shouldn't go around make eyes at each other," Woody said smugly.  
  
Jessie sat there, charged, wanting to say something but unable to find the right words.  
  
"Well," She finally said sounding offended. "It's not my fault you can't act professionally around me."  
  
Woody only smirked at as if to say yes, it was all her fault.  
  
….  
  
Jessie sighed and shook her head as she and Woody gazed at the burnt remains of the livery stable.  
  
"It's the second time this place has burned down," Jessie said. "That's what made her give in. I still remember Old Eli screaming at her, telling her that it was only going to get worse, that next the children were going to kill someone unless she married Mr. Colby. How did things get so out of hand, Woody? How could the town just let the children act like that? Just let them get their way?"  
  
Woody could only shake his head.  
  
Back in Doc Stone's office, Old Eli seemed to be improving. He had woken up and seemed to be aware of where he was. He had been told he'd had a heart attack, but not about the stable fire—Doc Stone figured it was best for Woody and Jessie to tell him, once he was a little stronger.  
  
Lucy Milburn sighed inwardly. She was not too pleased with having to be nursemaid to Old Eli. Having to spoon-feed him broth and wipe his face was not her idea of nursing! Though, she wouldn't mind if she had to do this with Sheriff Woody. He was so young and handsome—but no, he had Jessie to nurse him! What did he see in her?  
  
With the broth finished Lucy left him to go wash the dishes. Old Eli didn't like being waited on, but he felt so weak that he couldn't argue. Heart attack, he thought bitterly. He didn't remember having one. The last thing he remembered was going to bed for the night.  
  
Oh well, at least the livery stable was in good hands. Jessie may be a bit too cheerful, headstrong, hyper, and hung up on that young Sheriff, but she was a good girl and a hard worker -the hardest worker he'd had over the years. He could rest easy.  
  
Suddenly the room became ice cold. Old Eli shivered in the sick bed and pulled the covers closer around him.  
  
Slowly, she began to appear and Old Eli began to remember.  
  
"No," He whimpered. Slowly the ghost bride stepped closer to him. "No," He whimpered again. She lifted her veil, once again revealing that she had no face. "No," was all Old Eli could say. As the ghost reached out her boney hand to him, it's shadow creeping closer to him.  
  
Lucy walked back to the sick room, this time carrying a glass of water and a bottle of pills.  
  
"Who are you?" Lucy questioned seeing the back of a woman in Old Eli's room. The ghost bride turned to her. Lucy screamed and dropped both the glass and the bottle. They shattered as they hit the floor and then she promptly fainted.  
  
Woody and Jessie had reached Doc Stone's office door when they heard Lucy scream. Panicked, they rushed in. Lucy's parents also heard their daughter scream and were quickly rushing to her.  
  
"What happened?" Woody asked.  
  
"Don't know—her scream came from the sick room in back!" Doc said.  
  
When they all reached the sick room, they found Lucy on the floor and Old Eli dead. Jessie gasped seeing his face. His eyes were wide open, seeing nothing, and his face was twisted as if he was trying to scream and cry at the same time. Old Eli had been scared to death.


	5. Chapter 5

Stinky Pete set to work setting up his traps in his mine. He always did that before leaving and going into town—no claim jumper was going to steal his mine. However, he never set the traps in the same place—you never can be too careful. As he did this he sung a few bars of 'Little Sod Shanty'.  
  
"I am looking rather seedy now while holding down my claim,  
  
And my victuals are not always served the best;  
  
And the mice play shyly round me as I nestle down to rest,  
  
In my little old sod shanty on my claim."  
  
…  
  
Jessie set cross legged on Woody's desk in his office, her face resting in her hands. Normally this would have annoyed Woody, but not today; Old Eli's death had hit them pretty hard.  
  
Jessie had never been terribly fond of Old Eli—he had been a gruff ill-tempered old man, though he loved horses. It was the one thing he and Jessie had in common. Old Eli hadn't wanted to hire Jessie, but she was so persistent he simply gave in and hired her just so she'd stop bothering him. Her job was to muck out all the stalls, thinking she'd quit after a few days, but Jessie proved him wrong: happy to be working with horses and not having to wear a dress everyday, she didn't care what job he gave her. While old Eli never said she did a good job, he did little by little give her more to do.  
  
Woody respected Old Eli on account of the good care he made sure the horses got at his stables. The man knew horses. If a horse had something wrong with it Old Eli could diagnose it in a few minutes and treat the problem. Woody sighed deep, something he regretted instantly as it made his sides hurt. He had gotten hurt saving Old Eli from being burned alive only for him die later anyway. But he'd do it again he supposed—how could he have lived otherwise?  
  
Doc Milburn had said Old Eli had another heart attack and that's how he died. He was old and his heart was weak; it happens. Lucy Milburn had been hysterical when her parents revived her, screaming about seeing a woman in bride's dress that had no face. Her Pa ended up having to sedate her to keep her calm. Woody and Jessie had left the doctors office without a word.  
  
"Always thought a body dies with their eyes closed," Jessie said.  
  
"I used to think that too," Woody said.  
  
"You think what Lucy said was true?"  
  
"Don't see why not," Woody said nonchalantly. "We've both seen her and haven't told anyone about what we saw."  
  
"I wish you could be more skeptical about this!" Jessie yelled, angrily jumping off Woody's desks.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're just so accepting about this! Like a ghost is just a normal, everyday thing! I mean it's all fine and dandy to believe in ghosts when we we're young'uns going sneaking off to the old abandoned Morgan place hoping to see Old Man Morgan's ghost in the barn where he was hung," Jessie rambled, tugging on her braid. "Even seeing the ghost on our walk was scary, but no real harm was done. But what's happening now...I don't like it! Old Eli's dead; he was scared to death! And you're acting like it's fine! What's to say that won't happen to someone else?"  
  
Woody had always been told to tread carefully around hysterical women, but this was no ordinary hysterical woman: this was a hysterical Jessie and a hysterical Jessie could throw herself into his arms or throw him to the ground.  
  
Best course of action? Be honest and hope her reaction wouldn't involve pain.  
  
"I'm shaking on the inside," Woody said carefully. "More than anything, I'd love to have a normal explanation for what's happened so far, but I'd be a fool if I said that. I don't know what to do. How I do fight a ghost?! I can't run it out of town, I can't lock it up in jail...what can I do? I've never felt so helpless."  
  
"Really?" Jessie asked a little doubtfully.  
  
"Really," Woody answered, placing his good hand on Jessie's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze.  
  
It was at that moment that Pete decided to enter the Sheriff's office.  
  
"Tarnation, what is going on in this town?" Pete yelled as he flung the door open, startling Woody and Jessie. "My mule and I ride into town and find the livery stables burned clean down the ground! And what are you wearing, son? Looks like someone put a half finished skirt on you! Jessie you been using Woody here as a dressmaker's dummy? Why ain't there any coffee? Jessie, be a good girl and do some woman's work by making me some coffee."  
  
"Make it yourself!" Jessie said, a miff offended. ' _Woman's work indeed!'_ Jessie thought. Jessie loved Pete as a cranky old Uncle with a heart of gold, but like a cranky old Uncle he sometimes annoyed the heck out of her.  
  
"Ain't had any blasted coffee in a near month!" Pete grumbled. "Well, Sheriff Woody, this is your jail-house, you make me some coffee."  
  
"I'd like to, Pete," Woody began. "But I've dislocated my shoulder."  
  
"See what happens when you wrestle with girls," Pete said, casting an accursing glance at Jessie.  
  
"I didn't dislocated my shoulder wrestling with anybody," Woody told him.  
  
"Well, I'd to hear how it happened over a cup of coffee…" Pete said again, looking at Jessie.  
  
"Jess," Woody began. "I'd be much obliged if you'd be kind enough to make us some coffee?" Woody asked as nicely and sweetly as he could.  
  
"Alright," Jessie huffed.  
  
"Thank you," Woody said.  
  
As Jessie began to make the coffee, Pete began to tell her the proper way to make coffee, telling her to boil egg shells, fish bones, peppers and other ingredients that Woody didn't have. Jessie nodded her head while Pete prattled on and on about making coffee and silently vowed never to drink the stuff.  
  
"Now," Pete said when the coffee was ready and poured. "What happened to the livery stables? Was it kids again? Who do they want that no good drunkard Aaron Colby to marry this time? Some under age milkmaid?"  
  
"No, Pete," Woody sighed, and went on to tell him all about the fire, how he hurt himself, and Old Eli's passing. The one thing Woody did not tell Pete was about the ghost. Pete claimed to be the supreme authority on all things occult (of course that didn't mean he acted cool, calm, and collected whenever he thought there was something supernatural afoot—he'd get into a hysterical scared tizzy working up half the town's people with him).  
  
"Is that all you're telling me?" Pete asked with a scrutinizing gaze.  
  
Woody shot Jessie a quick glance. If Pete thought someone was hiding the truth from him, Pete wouldn't stop till he found out what it was.  
  
"I found a cat and decided to keep it," Jessie saidm sitting on Woody's desk.  
  
"Well, isn't that nice," Pete said uninterested.  
  
"It's a black cat," Jessie waited to see his reaction.  
  
Pete banged his coffee cup down on the table, sloshing the hot drink over the rim.  
  
"Black cat!" He scared. "Girl, have you lost your fool-head? Black cats are unlucky!"  
  
"They say the same things about Rabbits in Ireland," Jessie said calmly.  
  
"Rabbits are bad luck!" Pete shouted grumpily. "They get into my vegetable garden and eat everything. All they do is have babies! The only thing they're good for is for shooting and eating them."  
  
"Well, I can't stop you from eating rabbits, but don't even think for minute about shooting and eating my kitty," Jessie told him.  
  
"What I ought to do is drown your kitty," Pete grumbled.  
  
 _'Wrong thing to say,_ ' Thought Woody as a series of emotions played across Jessie's face.  
  
"Why, you no good dirty…!" Jessie screamed. "If go anywhere near that cat I'll…I'll…"  
  
"You'll what?" Pete asked, standing up trying to look Jessie in the eyes (which was not easy since Jessie dwarfed him).  
  
"I'll have Woody arrest you!"  
  
"Woody would never arrest me! I practically raised him! I'm like a father to him!"  
  
"Well, I'm going to marry him!" Jessie yelled back, not to be outdone.  
  
"What have you to say to that son?" Pete asked. Pete liked Jessie, really he did. He'd known her for as long as he'd known Woody. Pete had nothing against Woody and Jessie's relationship. He was all for it really—he just thought that sometimes Jessie needed to be put in her place and wished Woody had the backbone to do it.  
  
Now, Woody had plenty of backbone and had no problem with standing up to Jessie. But everything Jessie said had been true and they were going to get married someday. Taking a sip of his coffee (which was surprisingly good) he stole a glance at Pete and Jessie. Pete had a confident smug look on his face while Jessie had an uncertain look on her face as if she thought Woody wouldn't back her up. Woody winked at her.  
  
"Now, Pete, you know I don't hold to cruelty to animals," Woody simply said.  
  
Pete stamped his foot in annoyance.  
  
"Say, Pete? I need your advice about something," Woody said.  
  
"What?" Pete asked his curiosity piped.  
  
"Well, being October and all, I thought I'd tell the children a ghost story on Halloween, but I don't want to scare them to bad, so I was thinking that in the end of the story I'd had the hero get rid of the ghost and since you know so much about…what do you call it?"  
  
"The occult," Pete said.  
  
"Right the old colt-"  
  
"Not old colt!" Pete yelled. "Occult!"  
  
"Anyway," Woody said. "How does someone get rid of a ghost that's been haunting places?"  
  
"Well now, let's see," Pete said, thoughtfully stroking his beard. "You could always have an exorcism."  
  
"But, Pete," Jessie began. "A ghost is already dead...how can you execute it?"  
  
"Not execution! Exorcism!" Pete once again yelled, missing the amused glances between Woody and Jessie.  
  
"Well, what is an exorcism?" Woody asked.  
  
"It's a…oh never mind, it would scare the children! There's always a séance," Pete said.  
  
"Is that anything like a soiree?" Jessie asked.  
  
"No, it ain't anything like a soiree!" Pete said nastily. "A séance is where people gather around a table, hold hands and try to make contact with the dead and ask questions. If the ghost has unfinished business, then the people can help the ghost with it's unfinished business and it will be able to move on towards the light."  
  
"Sounds like a soiree to me," Jessie said, aggravating Pete some more.  
  
Woody took another sip of coffee to hide his smile.  
  
"So, when do you start work at the saloon?" Pete asked Jessie causing Woody to choke on his coffee, sputtering it everywhere.  
  
"Prospector, what are you talking about?" Jessie asked as she hurried over Woody and began to pat him on the back.  
  
"Well, seeing that you're out of a job now and a saloon is the only place for out of work women to work."  
  
While Jessie and Pete argued about how Jessie could earn money, Woody just stared off into space.  
  
' _Saloon? My Jessie working in a saloon? My Jessie who I've known all my life? My Jessie who's been my girl since we were thirteen? My Jessie who I'm going to marry someday? My Jessie who's going to be the mother of my children? Work in a saloon? Wearing dresses that show off her knees and are low cut for the men to see? Where men want to buy her drinks, spend time with her and make passes at her? My Jessie? Oh no, no, no! I can't have her working there! It's dangerous there! Gunfights! Knife fights! Fistfights! Drunks! Gamblers! Women of ill repute! How could she want to work in a place like that? Pete's right, she has no choice! She'll be destitute! I have to save her! I have save her if it's the last thing I do_!  
  
"I'll marry you Jessie, so you wont have to work in the saloon!" Woody suddenly shouted interrupting Jessie and Pete's arguing.  
  
Pete looked at him slacked-jawed and Jessie blinked several times. Woody braced himself for Jessie's reaction: she'd most likely squeal in delight, run to him, throw her arms around him, and shower him with kisses. Instead Jessie looked suddenly angry.  
  
"Well, thank you for that lovely romantic proposal, Sheriff Pride! But I don't need any charity marriage to you to keep me out of the poorhouse!" Jessie yelled before storming out of the Sheriff's office, slamming the door behind her.  
  
"Well, how do you like that?" Woody said somewhat in disbelief. "I finally ask her to marry me and she turns me down!"  
  
"She'll probably take a job at the saloon just to spite you!" Pete told him.  
  
"Oh, my gosh, you're right!" Woody said, his eyes growing wide before running out the door after Jessie.  
  
"Young'uns," Pete said, shaking his head.  
  
Jessie marched back to her house, fit to be tied.  
  
 _'Men!'_ She thought angrily. _'Working in a saloon indeed! And Woody offering to marry me so I won't have to work in a saloon! Don't they know there are plenty of other jobs I can work!'_  
  
"Jessie! Jessie!" Woody called after her urgently.  
  
Jessie ignored him and continued marching into her front lawn toward the backyard and into the chicken coop where she angrily began look for eggs, scaring several chickens as she did so.  
  
"Jessie, please!" Woody begged of her. "You have to see my side of things!"  
  
"Enlighten me," Jessie said dryly.  
  
"Jessie, you know me, know me better than anyone else! You know how jealous I can get! I ain't proud about it, but it's just the way I am."  
  
"I know," Jessie said, finishing collecting eggs.  
  
"Jess, I'd never get any work done! I'd spend all day and all night in the saloon keeping an eye on you. Oh, I know you can handle yourself. Heck, you can handle yourself better than anyone I know, but it wouldn't matter. I'd go crazy with jealousy!"  
  
"I'm sure," Jessie said, unmoved as she began to tend to her vegetable garden.  
  
"Jessie, please! How can you do this to me? Do you want me to end up shooting half if not all the men in this town?"  
  
"No," Jessie said, pulling out a weed.  
  
"Then why are you going to work in a saloon?"  
  
"I'm not!" Jessie yelled, turning to him.  
  
"You're not?" Woody repeated hopefully.  
  
"I never planned to work in the saloon! Honestly, I have no idea why you and the Prospector think that the only job a women can get is working at a saloon!"  
  
Woody tuned out the rest of what Jessie saying, relieved that she was not going to be working at the saloon in town.  
  
"Jessie, you've made me the happiest man alive!" Woody said before kissing her on the forehead.  
  
"Woody!" Jessie said in a shocked tone. "In front of the chickens, really!"  
  
"If you had a Rooster, you wouldn't have to worry about these things," He told her.  
  
Jessie only shook her head and went inside to wash up. Woody followed her. "So why are rabbits unlucky in Ireland?"  
  
"They're associated with witchcraft," Jessie told him.  
  
"Ah," Woody said nodding. "I ask you to marry me and you said no!" Woody said in accusatory tone.  
  
"One: You didn't ask, you offered and two: You offered to marry me for all the wrong reasons," Jessie told him.  
  
"Well, just don't say I never offered," Woody said.  
  
"Oh, don't worry – I won't. Besides you'll ask me to marry you for real next time," Jessie said coyly.  
  
Woody wondered if he should say something, but kept his mouth shout. Right now, he had a ghost and a jobless Jessie to worry about. He still didn't know what to do about the ghost, but with all the…well spookiness going on he wanted Jessie close to him. He was still haunted by his nightmare and Old Eli's death. Then the idea hit him.  
  
"I'll hire you as my assistant," Woody told her.  
  
"You're what?" Jessie asked.  
  
"My assistant. You'd work for me, but you wouldn't be a deputy."  
  
"What would I have to do?"  
  
"Well as my assistant, you keep the office clean, make the coffee, get the mail, hang up the new wanted posters, and any other tasks I need done."  
  
"You'll pay me?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"How much is the pay?"  
  
"Four dollars a week. You get paid at the end of the month."  
  
Jessie was silent as she thought it over. It was better then selling eggs, she reasoned.  
  
"All right, but don't try to get fresh with me when I'm working for ya," Jessie told him with a half smile.  
  
"Don't worry—I'll save being fresh with you for after work and when we're married," Woody told her. "You can start tomorrow, since the day's all messed up time-wise."  
  
"Sounds good to me. See you later, for dinner?"  
  
"I'll be here."  
  
...  
  
It stormed all through their dinner. Thunder seemed to shake the cottage every time it sounded. Lightning lighted up the sky with every flash, and rain pounded heavily on the roof as it poured down. Jessie was on edge all evening. She hated angry storms like this, but there was something about this storm that didn't seem right. It had come out of nowhere: one second the sky was clear and the next it was storming.  
  
"Awful storm," Jessie said as she began to clear away the dinner dishes. "Will Bullseye be all right?"  
  
"I have him stabled at in the barn behind the general store," Woody told her.  
  
"That's good. I wonder what the town will do without a livery stable?"  
  
"I wouldn't be too worried—the bank will most likely sell Old Eli's land and hopefully whoever buys it will build a new livery stable," Woody said, trying to help clear the table.  
  
The thunder crashed again causing Jessie to jump.  
  
"I hate it when it goes right through you," Jessie said, referring to the thunder. As she walked up to the kitchen sink, the lighting flashed. Jessie gave small scream, dropping the dishes in the sink with a clatter.  
  
"What is it?" Woody said rushing over to her.  
  
"I saw her!" Jessie said shacking. "When the lighting flashed I saw her standing in the yard. Her dress was ragged and torn this time. I could see her skeleton through her dress!"  
  
Woody looked out the window when the lighting flashed again.  
  
"I don't see anything."  
  
"She was there!"  
  
"I believe you," Woody quickly assured her.  
  
"Don't go," Jessie murmured.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't go. She's waiting for you, I know she is."  
  
"Jess…"  
  
"Something awful is going to happen to you if you go out there."  
  
"Jessie…"  
  
"Listen to me, she scared Old Eli to death—what's to say she can't do something to you? It's terrible out anyway, I can't send you out in all that rain: you'll get sick, and the streets are likely flooded. Just don't go. I'm so afraid that I'll never see you again if you go out that door," Jessie told him. nearly beside herself.  
  
Woody had never seen her so scared before. She was truly convinced that something was going to happen to him if he left.  
  
"I'll stay, I'll stay," Woody told her. And Jessie breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
….  
  
Jessie had been truly frightened, just as she wanted. It would be harder to frighten Woody, She'd wait for the right time when he was alone, but for now there were other people to 'visit'. The one's truly responsible her death, the children she had taught and the man she was forced to marry.


	6. Chapter 6

Mud; mud everywhere. And flooding too.  
  
"Oh, I hope my chickens are all right!" Jessie said worriedly the next morning. "Ugh!" She cried, stepping into the backyard. Mud was everywhere and the chickens were all huddled on top of their chicken coop looking decidedly unhappy about all the mud on the bottom of their coop.  
  
"Don't worry, girls," Jessie told them. "I'll get you some gravel later."  
  
Muddy and flooded streets greeted Woody and Jessie as they walked into town. The backyard of the general store was a giant mud puddle. After checking on and feeding Bullseye, they continued on their way. They greeted several towns' people on the way to the Sheriff's office. Many folks were complaining about last night's storm and the water damage that had come with it. The saloon's basement had been flooded, the bank's roof had leaked, and the telegraph pole had been knocked over.  
  
"I wonder how bad the Sheriff's office is?" Woody said apprehensively.  
  
"I'm sure it's nothing that a good mopping won't fix."  
  
The board-walk in front of the jail-house was still soaked.  
  
"If this doesn't dry out, this wood's going to rot," Woody said, grimacing as he opened the door to his office. "It flooded!" Woody whined as an inch of water greeted him.  
  
"Guess it's time for me to get to work," Jessie said. "Where do you keep the mop and bucket?"  
  
"In the closet behind my desk."  
  
With a cheerful smile Jessie set about to do her task.  
  
"I yodel while I work. Is that going be bother you?" Jessie asked.  
  
"Yodel away, my Yodeling Cowgirl." Woody told her. "It is sweet music to my ears."  
  
….  
  
Aaron Colby was just as Pete had said: a no-good drunk. He wasn't a mean drunk, mind you—he was a loud drunk that liked to have a good time and was most nights tossed out the saloon or thrown in jail for disturbing peace. Even when he was sober, he was a loud happy man despite the fact that his bride had disappeared on their wedding day.  
  
He was a wild looking man, dressed in buckskins with wild salt and pepper, unkempt hair and a dirty beard to match. He was in his late fifties, but managed look younger than he was, so when he walked into the saloon that morning—his hair now stark white, his face looking like it had aged fifty years, covered with bruises and scratches as it was—and acted as timed as a rabbit, Smokey the bar tender dropped the glass he'd been cleaning out.  
  
"A-Aaron?" He said. "Is that you?"  
  
"Whiskey," Was all Mr. Colby would say.  
  
Smokey gave him a shot as several saloon girls came over, all of them wondering the same thing as Smokey. What had happened to Aaron to change his appearance so dramatically?  
  
….  
  
With the office part of the jailhouse now dry thanks to Jessie's hard work, Woody came to the conclusion that he needed to change pants. He'd been wearing the same pair of pants for almost two days and they were wet and muddy.  
  
"Jess?" Woody began wearily.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I need to change into clean clothes."  
  
"You want me to help you with that?" Jessie asked, completely unfazed.  
  
"No! I want you to go in the back and clean the cells and don't come back out until I call you!" Woody said, clearly exasperated.  
  
"Alright."  
  
"And take the keys to the jail cells with you so you don't get locked in!"  
  
….  
  
Mr. Colby finished his shot, and looked about him fearfully as if he was looking for someone who was out to get him.  
  
"Well?" Said Smokey.  
  
"Can I live here in the saloon with you and the girls?" Mr. Colby asked him timidly.  
  
"What?" Smokey asked as one of the saloon girls named Lily came over. Mr. Colby gave a small cry and jumped when she put her arm around him.  
  
"What's wrong, honey?" She asked him.  
  
"You ain't her," He whispered, relieved.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Blanche," He whispered fearfully.  
  
"Blanche?" Smokey asked in wonder. "Your wife? She's alive?"  
  
"No," Mr. Colby said mournfully. "She's not."  
  
….  
  
When Jessie walked into the back of the jail-house, she wrinkled her nose in disgust. It smelled worse than an outhouse. When was the last time this place had been cleaned? Jessie didn't even want to think about that.  
  
Well, one thing was for sure: It was going to take a whole lot more than a mop and a bucket to clean this mess up!  
  
"Woody!"  
  
"What?" He called back, trying not to sound annoyed.  
  
"I need to get more cleaning supplies."  
  
"That's fine. Just go to general store and put it on my account. And use the back door!"  
  
"Will do!" Jessie called back cheerfully.  
  
Once Woody heard Jessie leave, he cried out in pain. What he was doing was not a good idea, but he didn't want Jessie to know that and he wasn't going to admit defeat. He shouldn't have taken his sling off, but he thought he'd be able to use his arm to take off his boots, socks, pants, and long-john bottoms. He was wrong. He was able to kick off his boots and socks. Unbuckling his belt was the next step. His shoulder and ribs were aching. Why did he want to wear clean clothes again? He was able to get his jeans off pretty easy. Now came the time to get his long-john bottoms off. Woody prayed that Jessie wouldn't come back and forget not to come in the main room until he called her in.  
  
….  
  
"I'm going to need your strongest soaps, disinfectants, any other cleaning products you can recommend, some metal scrub brushes, a pair of work gloves, a bandana, and a pair of chaps," Jessie told Mr. Sappington, the owner of the general store. "Woody said to charge to his account."  
  
Mr. Sappington nodded and began to gather the items Jessie had requested. As Jessie waited for the order to be filled, she listened to the other customers' conversation. She wasn't ease dropping per say, she could just hear what they were saying.  
  
"You remember the night the livery stables burned down?"  
  
"Of course I remember—it happened just the other night!"  
  
"Well, I've been thinking about that night and when I was helping to put out the fire I was saw a women just standing off in the distance watching."  
  
"That ain't nothing! There were plenty of women just standing there watching. "  
  
"Wearing a wedding dress and with a veil covering her face?"  
  
"You drunk that night?"  
  
"No, I was not drunk that night! And what's more, my son's been courting the Doc's daughter."  
  
"Your son's courting anyone's daughter who will give him the time of day."  
  
"Hush up! I'm trying to tell you something! Lucy told my boy that when Old Eli died, there was a women in a wedding dress in his room and she had no face!"  
  
"Sound's like the girl's been dipping into her Pa's medicine, if you ask me."  
  
"I ain't asking you anything, I'm telling you. That school teacher who was forced to marry Aaron Colby has come back from the grave to haunt us all!"  
  
"How do you know she's dead? The only trace that was ever found of her was her wedding ring in the church and that was when she disappeared."  
  
"I was in the group that was with the old Sheriff when he was tracking her and he tracked her down until the deadly mist falls, and everyone knows if you fall in the water where the falls meet you'll drown in no time."  
  
"I reckon that's true enough: the force from the falls will hold you down under water."  
  
Deep down inside, Jessie had always known that Blanche was dead. She had been so sick and feverish on the day of her wedding that Jessie hadn't expected her to live through the night. But she hadn't known about Blanche being tracked down to the deadly mist falls. She had thought that, most likely, Blanche had laid down the woods and passed away and reason they'd never found her body was because of animals. The romantic in her liked to think that Blanche had run off with a secret special someone. Why hadn't Woody told her that Blanche had been tracked to the waterfall?  
  
….  
  
He did it! Woody was able to put on a clean pair long-john bottoms and jeans! He was out of breath, covered in sweat, and he felt like his body was on fire, but at least if Jessie came in he'd be mostly decent.  
  
"I'm back!" Jessie called, though not as cheerful sounding as when she'd left.  
  
"Get everything you needed?" Woody called back to her, sounding out of breath. He was laying flat on his back on his bunk.  
  
"Yep. You mind if I yodel again while I work?"  
  
"Go right ahead."  
  
Jessie had been cleaning and yodeling for about an hour and in all that time Woody hadn't moved. He was just in too much pain. He was feeling slightly better now, but he realized that if he tried to finish getting dressed by himself, he would just make himself feel worse. He needed Jessie to help him.  
  
"Jessie!" Woody called.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I need to come in here and help me finish getting dressed."  
  
For a second the color drained from Jessie face, then she reasoned that Woody must have been joking with her. She hoped that, after all...she wanted to be a blushing bride on her wedding night, not before.  
  
Jessie frowned when saw Woody laying there, shirtless.  
  
"You took your sling off," She said in a disapproving tone.  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
"You shouldn't have done that. You might have injured your shoulder worse."  
  
"Yeah, well... it's my shoulder," Woody said crossly.  
  
"Let's get you up," Jessie said, taking off her gloves and sitting down on the cot by Woody's head. "Ready?" Jessie asked as she slid her hands under Woody's back, careful to avoid his shoulder and ribs.  
  
"Yeah," Woody said.  
  
"Let me do all the work," Jessie told him as she began to carefully ease him up into a sitting position.  
  
"I don't suppose you'd want to give me a back rub while you're there?" Woody asked her.  
  
Jessie sighed before answering, "I ought to say no, since I doubt you'd ask a male assistant that."  
  
"I might if I knew him as well I as know you."  
  
"You want me to get some liniment for you?"  
  
"I ain't a horse, Jess."  
  
"You can use liniment on people. Where do you hurt?"  
  
"My lower back. That sofa of yours seems to have a lump with my name on it."  
  
"I really should get a spare bed and put it in my sewing room," Jessie said as she began to rub Woody's back.  
  
"That feels good."  
  
"Woody?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I heard something interesting in the general store," Jessie said and then told him what she had heard.  
  
Woody sighed. He didn't want the people in the town getting into a panic about the ghost bride, but then Jessie wanted answers from him.  
  
"Let's get a shirt on you before you catch a chest cold," Jessie said as she stopped rubbing his back.  
  
"It was Sheriff Hale who didn't want me or anyone to tell. We didn't really have any proof that she had gone into the water and Sheriff Hale didn't want to risk anyone's life by going into the water and trying to find her body when it may not even be there. It had been only a few years after the Castillo boy tragedy."  
  
Jessie did remember: the Castillo family had gone on a picnic in the woods, their son had gone exploring near the falls, lost his footing, fell into the water and drowned. The family had run into the town to get help to retrieve body and that unfortunately led to more bodies being recovered. Full grown men hardly even stood a chance against the powerful falls.  
  
"I guess I can understand Sheriff Hale's reasons, but you should have told me," Jessie said, finishing rubbing his back.  
  
"Well…" Woody began as Jessie started helping him into his shirt.  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"I didn't want to tell you."  
  
"Keep your arm straight and tell me: why?"  
  
"Well, because I was afraid you'd get it in your head to go in the water and try to find Blanche's body yourself."  
  
"Now, what would give you a fool-headed idea like that!" Jessie asked him angrily as she buttoned up Woody's shirt.  
  
"You know what you were like at seventeen."  
  
"No - what was I like at seventeen?" Jessie asked, putting Woody's arm in a sling.  
  
"Impetuous, reckless, headstrong, had to have your own way…come to think about it, you haven't changed," Woody smirked.  
  
Jessie narrowed her eyes and pushed Woody over.  
  
"Put your socks and boots on by yourself," Jessie told him.  
  
"I planned on asking you to help me with that."  
  
"And I would not be stupid enough to get myself drowned looking for Blanche's body!"  
  
….  
  
Smokey frowned. Aaron was talking crazy, and not drunk crazy. Something had happened to him and Smokey was not one to believe in ghosts.  
  
"Lily," He whispered. "Go and get the Sheriff. I want him to talk to Aaron."  
  
"With pleasure," Lily said.  
  
….  
  
Woody frowned as he and Lily walked back to the saloon. Jessie hadn't even batted an eye when Lily came walking into the jail-house and tried to fuss and flirt with him. She couldn't even show a healthy dose of jealousy! He'd have to talk to her about that. Woody swore under his breath when he saw Mr. Colby.  
  
"Mr. Colby," Woody greeted him. The old man jumped and looked afraid.  
  
"Sh-Sheriff Woody, it's just you," Mr. Colby said timidly.  
  
"Let's go to nice corner and talk about what happened to you," Woody said.  
  
"All right," he said, still shaking.  
  
"Now tell me, who did this to you?"  
  
"Blanche did," Mr. Colby whispered.  
  
"Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
"It happened late last night in the storm. I was just getting ready to bed down when I heard a knocking on my door. I thought someone must be in need of shelter from the storm. But it wasn't someone who needed shelter—it was Blanche's ghost."  
  
"How did you know it was her ghost?"  
  
"She was in her wedding dress, only it was all tattered and torn. Veil covering her face….no flesh on her bones. When I saw her, I couldn't speak or move. She raised her fleshless hands to my face and she tried to kill me. We fought all night and for the first time in my life I prayed and prayed and, when the dawn came, she left. But she'll be back. That's why I don't want to be alone; she'll come back if I'm alone and I'll die if she does. I don't want to die," Mr. Colby wept.  
  
….  
  
"I don't think we're going to be able to keep this ghost business quiet," Jessie said later that night as she set the table for dinner.  
  
"Well, I told Smokey that I thought Mr. Colby probably got a hold of some bad hooch and went off his head."  
  
"I don't like you having to lie."  
  
"Well, Smokey's more inclined to believe that than a ghost. I told him to let Mr. Colby stay with him and have him work for his keep."  
  
"I don't see why you need to baby Mr. Colby." Jessie said sharply. "It's his fault we're in this mess!"  
  
"I know, but you should have seen him, Jess."  
  
"I know, I know - you told me. I wonder why Blanche is haunting us now?"  
  
"Don't ask me, ask Pete. He knows about that stuff."  
  
"Guess I'll have to tell him it's for my own ghost story."  
  
"Come on, Jess. Let's not talk about ghosts any more," Woody said, smiling. "Tell me all about your first day on your new job."  
  
….  
  
Woody yawned and stretched his good arm, pulling Jessie closer him on the sofa.  
  
"It's getting late," Woody said.  
  
"Mmm," Jessie nodded.  
  
"I should really get going and make my rounds."  
  
"Do you really have to?"  
  
"People will start to talk if I stay."  
  
"Even though you do sleep on the sofa?" Jessie asked.  
  
"They don't know that and I won't have anyone speak bad about you, so I really have to go," Woody said, getting up.  
  
Jessie walked him to door.  
  
"You will be careful making your rounds, won't you?" Jessie asked him anxiously.  
  
"Of coarse I will," Woody said soothingly. "I always am."  
  
"It's just with your arm and all…"  
  
"I will be fine. Don't worry."  
  
Jessie watched him walk away from her doorstep. Woody turned and waved to her. It was deadly still and quiet as Woody made his rounds and that make him feel on edge. It was never this quiet. Cold sweat began to trickle down his neck and back; someone or something was watching him. A sudden feeling of terror crept over him. He knew it was Blanche's ghost and he knew he couldn't fight her. He was trembling by the time he reached the jail-house. He threw the door open and then slammed it shut behind him. His heart was beating so madly he could barely breath.  
  
"I am not afraid!" Woody yelled, shaking. "You can't scare me! I am not afraid of you! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not!"  
  
Then Woody found himself crying. unable to stop.


End file.
